More than a childcare provider, the YMCA is community partner!
YMCAs across Connecticut & Rhode Island deliver a youth experience that intentionally fosters the key drivers of impact for youth development. The Y’s before and after school sites come in many shapes and sizes, but the goal of each site is to help youth achieve, build relationships, and feel a sense of belonging.
YMCAs provide confidence and dependability to parents and school administrators through high quality, locally operated programs. Here are some important features of YMCA programs
Our framework supports the needs of your students!
YMCAs in CT and RI follow a unified framework that allows us to customize each program based on a specific school’s needs. Our framework has the following components:
Academic Support: Alignment of school day priorities through homework support, tutoring, and providing additional academic learning-based activities.
Quality Enrichment: Complementary to the learning that children are doing during their school day, afterschool enrichment is where they are exposed to new opportunities to further develop their interests in STEAM, literacy, and other areas through youth choice.
Physical Activity: All children participate in 30 min. of continued moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.
Healthy Eating: Children will receive a healthy snack or meal.
Our beliefs drive program quality
WE BELIEVE in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: YMCA programs eliminate barriers and make everyone feel welcome, no matter their needs
WE BELIEVE in Social Emotional Learning: YMCA afterschool programs utilize social emotional learning throughout their daily activities and interactions.
WE BELIEVE in a Safe Environment: Our staff are all trained in First Aid, CPR, and AED, other health related topics including infectious disease control and safety protocols, as well as child protection.
WE BELIEVE in Family Engagement: We believe that engaging families is critical to a child’s success and we work with families to make sure that we are meeting the needs of their children.
WE BELIEVE in School Alignment: YMCA afterschool programs believe that the best way to support academic achievement is to work with the schools and districts we serve to support what students are learning in school.
WE BELIEVE in Community Relationships: We connect families and students to resources throughout the community including our formal partners help the whole family thrive.
WE BELIEVE in Fair and Equitable Access: We believe that serving the whole family requires providing access to quality care, so we connect families to government- subsidized funds as well as YMCA financial aid.
Our staff make the difference!
Our programs are led by qualified and experienced staff who undergo rigorous background check,
as well as training for child abuse prevention and awareness, and maintain active certification for First
Aid and CPR. All of our staff meet or exceed the state childcare licensing requirements.
Locally managed, with national resources.
Most importantly, all of our site are managed by LOCAL childcare directors who work at the YMCA in your community. This allows us to make sure program quality, compliance, and activities meet our high standards – and yours!
Find your local YMCA
Find the YMCA in your community. We’d love to talk with you about existing programs or starting a new one!